£170,00 mortgage will bury me.

nightsurfer_2

About ten years ago we had a 120k mortgage. We switched to a flexible mortgage but I spent a period earning almost nothing and the mortgage has grown to 170K. We still have equity but I am over 40 with kids and my wife and I now earn about 35k between us.

We can just about afford paying enough to stop the debt growing further but cannot pay this off in our lifetimes. Worse we do not have any endowments to clear it. We do have equity in the house but would be loathed to sell up and up root the family.

I am very worried about the future though.

We only have small credit card debt and a friend has suggssted taking out a large unsecured loan / loans and use it to clear some of the mortgage.

He says that if we find we can't meet the debts in years to come we will be less likely to lose the house if the debts are not secured on it.

Is he right?

Conor_3

What is it going to achieve? Your mothly payments won't go down, they'll actually go up - alot. Work on at least another £300 a month and that'll only get you about £15k. If you're struggling now, you'll be in one hell of a mess 12 months down the line if you go that route.

And regarding unsecured debts, just because they're not secured on the house, it doesn't mean you're safe. If you default, the loan company always has the option of bankrupting you and if they go down that route, there's not a damned thing you can do to stop it unless you can magic up the settlement figure.

One idea if your kids are over 18 is to get them to start paying you board especially if they're working. If they're in work, £40-£50 a week isn't unreasonable. They sure as heck couldn't live on their own for that.


Post a statement of affairs listing all your income and expenses.

Xbigman

I agree with previous poster. Also, any debt over 5000 can be effectively turned into a secured debt. It just takes longer.

But if you have 35k income, a straight forward 170k mortgage with little other debt should be affordable. Can you switch away from the flexible mortgage and get a good rate on a repayment one?
Regards



X

magentadreamer

A loan would still need paying off, I'd go talk to your mortgage lender and see if a straight forward repayment mortgage would be more appropriate.I'd also post a list of your income and out goings on here as you'll be amazed as to how much you can save by doing nothing.

loubie_lou

I totally disagree with your friend by giving you such silly advice.

If you have no debt why take out more to pay off your mortgage, some experts on here will tell you that really won't work.

With a combined income of £35k and hardly any debts but pardon me for saying why are you struggling with the mortgage?

It is a good idea to post your incomings and outgoings and maybe we can suggest how you could cut your exisitng bills to make life a bit easier.....

BobProperty

nightsurfer wrote:

...We can just about afford paying enough to stop the debt growing further but cannot pay this off in our lifetimes. Worse we do not have any endowments to clear it. We do have equity in the house but would be loathed to sell up and up root the family.
...

Please look at what you said there. The regulars on here will help you find that bit extra that you will be able to pay this off. I think you are being unnecessary pessimistic that you "cannot pay this off in our lifetimes".

Kevicho

To quote the man himself, the best way to pay off debts is to look at what your spending then hopefully we can help you save money in other areas that will free up cash to put towards debts/mortgage payments etc

If you put a SOA listing all your income/outgoings per month the people on here are wizards at helping you concentrate on what to lower and all the info you will need and where to find it

Good luck!

sparkle84

Is this an interest only mortgage? could you speak to you lender as ask how much it would cost to change it to a repayment if you have no other debts you should be able to afford this

phil999_2

before people can assist you need to post all your incomings and outgoings so we can understand the full picture as unless we understand the full picture it is very hard to advise.

skintchick

Yep - we need all ins and outs or we can't really help, except to say that you CAN pay it off in your lifetimes.

sashacat

I think you should congratulate yourself for posting on here. I thought I was good at managing my money and saving money til I found this site. The people who post on here are usually experienced and many have been or still are heavily in debt. Post a statement of account and you will be amazed at good the advice is...you might not like all the advice but that doesn't mean it's not good advice. good luck!